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Since the release of their debut album (2017's 'Brutalism'), Bristol-based IDLES have steadily ascended the musical ranks with their defiant style of angry rock (but don't call it punk, they don't like that), culminating in a magnificent headline set at Glastonbury 2024. While they built their name on predominantly boot-stomping riot starters, over time the band have started to explore the quieter side of their capabilities. So much so that legendary producer/atmosphere maste

With the recent, Eddie Redmayne-fronted, re-release of this story in a big budget TV format, it seems now might be an appropriate time to revisit the original film that inspired the series.  A co-production of the UK and France (showing that sometimes we can get along) and based on a Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name, this film is a political thriller telling the story of an attempted assassination attempt on General Charles De Gaulle. Although it is based on real cha

"So I've decided to take my work back underground....to stop it falling into the wrong hands."  Before The Prodigy became a worldwide sensation, with Keith Flint becoming a cyber-punk poster boy and even your granny knowing the lyrics to "Firestarter", there was this: four maniacs from the illegal rave scene in deepest Essex. Their first album ('Experience', 1992) took the rave from the abandoned warehouses and shot it into the mainstream. Their unexpected breakout hits 'C

“Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands.” This book came to my attention recently when hearing, of all people, Joe Talbot (lead singer of vicious post-modern punk band IDLES) saying how much of an influence it had been on their work. Considering their music, this was an intriguing concept. Based on the

Christopher Nolan is probably the single best director working in film and television today. He has reached that rarified space wherein his name alone warrants an immediate green light from studios and guarantees box-office draw. His films are generally always pushing the envelope of what a big budget studio blockbuster can be and he is one of only a few working directors today for whom you drop everything and insist on seeing his latest release at the cinema. Such was the ca

Someone once said that romantic comedies are the hardest stories to execute, because you always know how it's going to end. Therefore it becomes about the journey and, for many romantic comedies, the chemistry between your two leads. Some films go for sweeping romance (The Notebook, Titanic etc), some go for something reflective of the times (The Apartment, 500 Days of Summer etc.), and some go for appealing to as many people as possible. This film certainly falls in the latt

The sad irony of this title, contrary to what a lot of people think, actually has nothing to do with the untimely passing of the man formerly known as Biggie a few weeks before the release of this album. This double-LP was actually finished weeks before he was unfortunately gunned down in the streets of Los Angeles and serves as a direct narrative follow-on from his platinum selling debut 'Ready To Die'. 

Even if you've never seen Don Siegel's 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood, you probably will be aware of it's titular character and his famous quote:  "I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Now to tell you the truth, I've forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow your head clean off, you've gotta ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Wel